JapanBall

06/03/2026

Happy 45th birthday to the one and only, Munenori Kawasaki 🥳

06/02/2026

🚨 Japanese MLB Players May Recap!

🇯🇵 Trio of Dodgers, Munetaka Murakami Highlight Performances of Imports During May.

At the conclusion of May, the second full month of the Major League Baseball season, the Los Angeles Dodgers had to be feeling positive.  They had won eight of their last 10 games, held the second-best record in MLB, and their trio of Japanese import players was making significant contributions. S...

06/01/2026

NPB Interleague Play Underway

The Chunichi Dragons play the Rakuten Eagles on May 28 (Photo: Chunichi Shimbun) Interleague play is underway in Nippon Professional Baseball, with Central and Pacific League clubs facing off over the next three weeks in one of the most important stretches of the season. Each team will play a three-...

05/25/2026

Congratulations to Rikuu Nishida on being called up to MLB by the Chicago White Sox!

Nishida, 25, will become the first player born in Japan to appear in the Big Leagues after playing Division I baseball in the United States.

The 5-foot-6 utilityman, who went to Tohoku High School, worked his way all the way up from attending Mount Hood Community College before transferring to Oregon and being drafted in the 11th round by the White Sox in 2023.

The Osaka native was hitting .347/.454/.395 in 33 games at the Triple-A level this season and will now join Munetaka Murakami on the South Side.

05/24/2026

Seibu Lions Roll into First Place

After a week away helping lead JapanBall’s annual NPB Main Tour and hosting the University of South Carolina Tour across Japan, we’re back with another edition of the Nippon Professional Baseball newsletter. The past week brought no shortage of notable storylines around the league. Haruto Takaha...

05/21/2026

Happy International Tea Day!

Which Shohei Ohtani bottled tea is your favorite?

05/18/2026

Today would have been Brooks Robinson’s 89th birthday.

Just to name a few of his many accomplishments:

- 2,800+ Hits
- 18x All-Star
- 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards
- Most games by any player in MLB history at a single position

He also happens to be my favorite player and his name inspired my son's name.

We miss you, Brooksie!

05/17/2026

Our Yuri Karasawa was featured on MLB’s latest video about Munetaka Murakami 💥

Munetaka Murakami has been on fire to start his MLB career, mashing 15 home runs and leading MLB in HRs for a big part of the 2026 season so far. We dive int...

05/17/2026

Happy 69th birthday to Don Katsuki Nomura 🎉

Nomura is a prominent Japanese sports agent best known for revolutionizing the relationship between NPB and MLB.

He is recognized for pioneering the pathway for Japanese players to play in the United States, most famously by convincing pitcher Hideo Nomo to challenge the traditional, restrictive posting system in the 1990s.

Without his efforts, we likely would never have seen the caliber of Japanese talent in MLB today!

05/12/2026

Check out Yuri’s article for Just Baseball on Hanshin Tigers superstar Teruaki Sato 🐯

A 2026 surge has established Teruaki Sato as the best player in Japan, and the NPB superstar looks bound for MLB.